Part of a power struggle?

There’s consensus in Rio de Janeiro that police corruption and criminality must be reduced. What we don’t know is if it’s possible to achieve this to a significant degree, in an environment where politicians tomam posse (take possession [of office]), become autoridades (authorities) and then bring in trusted people to occupy cargos de confiança (posts of confidence).

Widespread corruption and scant trust in society at large mean that every deed and every word, especially on the part of public figures, requires the interpretation of a Torah scholar. Even the media, with needs that don’t always match those of readers and viewers, cannot be trusted.

Thus we get tweets such as this one, from former State Public Safety Secretary, Marcelo Itagiba: “New commander changes everything once again. One dum-dum steps down and another one takes his place. Institutional instability. There’s no line of action. Only a changing of the guard.” Itagiba served under Governor Anthony Garotinho, accused of corruption and recently found guilty of illegal media usage for electoral purposes.

Because reading between the lines is a time-consuming process, most people either mistrust all information unless it comes from a close friend or relative– or they turn to conspiracy theory. Like gossip, theories are easy to invent and spread. And a conspiracy theory is occasionally correct.

So it could well be that, as Itagiba and many other observers posit, the new public safety policy is mere windowdressing for Governor $érgio (this is how Itagiba writes his name) Cabral’s money-grubbing. After all, his dubious connections, long suspected, came to light just a few months ago.

In his tweets, Itagiba suggests that current Public Safety Secretary José Mariano Beltrame is in on both arms of the theory. Others believe he’s trying to do his job, but is at odds with the governor. Thus Thursday’s change in police chiefs brought speculation about whose man is or was whose, the secretary’s or the governor’s.

Colonel Ribeiro Costa Filho, Beltrame’s fourth police chief (and one also forgets that Beltrame himself has steadfastly been in office since January 2007, when Governor Cabral first took office), lives in a lower-middle-class house in the Baixada Fluminense, part of greater Rio de Janeiro. He was pulled off his job as São Cristóvão battalion commander in 2003, after accusing the then State Sports Secretary of having asked him to go easy on Mangueira favela drug traffickers. That year he won a “Faz Diferença” (Making a Difference) award from O Globo newspaper, for his whistle-blowing.

Interestingly, that same secretary, who goes by the personalist moniker of Chiquinho da Mangueira (Mangueira Frankie), is about to be reappointed to his previous post. So Ribeiro da Costa Filho may be bumping into his nemesis in halls of state. But rivalries and enmity are nothing new in those parts.

At any rate, the new chief’s personnel decisions indicate that he and Beltrame are making the most of this unforeseen opportunity to choose their associates in the tasks of reducing police corruption and criminality, as well as reducing crime committed by those outside the force.

An Oct. 2 page 23 O Globo article, not available online, by seasoned police reporter Vera Araújo, describes the selection process: “It was from a business administration course … that Beltrame drew management concepts in choosing the new military police czars… recruitment, selection, leadership and motivation.”

See what you want to

It’s impossible to be sure what all these changes mean, and it will be especially interesting to see what the switch in command of the police pacification program will portend. A police specialist says that the new commander, Colonel Rogério Seabra, has “a community police profile, believes in a dialogue with society, and is good at public relations”.

As the earth turns, it will be helpful to keep in mind that whatever it is that Rio’s police are doing, for better or worse, is in large part a reflection of the rest of society. As the police change their values and behavior, as Beltrame says he wants them to do (based on consensus), all of us may be called on to review our own.

We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.

— Talmud

Here is an analysis of the new police personnel, by O Globo blogger Jorge Antonio Barros

4 Responses to Police shuffle: upshot for Rio

This article reads like Kafka, and even with tragic-comedy some truth might reveal itself and serve to remedy the situation. By continuing to report a balanced view one serves humanity by challenging false narratives and extreme assumptions.It is a lonely road. Keep on writing.

Julia Michaels

Declaraçâo de missão / Mission Statement

IS IT GOING TO LAST?

I want it to. And to this end I’ll deliver information, independent and objective, bilingual and multimedia, about the momentous transformation that began in 2008 in Rio de Janeiro.
Is it just a mask? In 2017, should we expect the BMWs to revert to pumpkins and the politicians to turn back into myopic rats?

A BLOG WITH AN AXE TO GRIND
I want it to last. I want the changes to be deep and real. I can see that the way cariocas are thinking and talking about favelas and their residents reveals new tolerance, concern and solidarity.
The more we know about what’s going on, the more we can contribute to the process, whether we are cariocas born and bred, transplants like me, onlookers, investors, tourists, transients, or cynics.
I will give you links, original reporting, questions, ideas, images, sounds, reflections, answers and more questions. No bullshit. You won’t have to read between the lines. My only agenda is I WANT IT TO LAST.

This is Rio Real, a blog created in 2010 by Julia Michaels, an American writer, editor and journalist who has lived in Brazil for more than thirty years.
If you speak both languages, I suggest you read both texts. I’ll be providing more context in English and more detail in Portuguese.
We’re still pinching ourselves. Only five years ago you couldn’t walk in Ipanema and talk on a cell phone, for fear someone would snatch it off your ear. Now everyone has a cell phone, everyone walks and talks. You thought cariocas were a relaxed sort.
But only now are they finally starting to chill!
Construction is booming, favelas have an increased police presence (and more social services as well) rents and real estate are up, jobs and income are on the increase, education indicators are heartening, frozen yogurt is everywhere, health and sewage are getting serious attention for the first time possibly ever, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas is being cleaned, new restaurants and shops are opening, Brazilians are moving here from other cities, the beaches are policed, drunk driving is almost nonexistent, the Olympics are coming, the metro is expanding and best of all, key parts of the city are safer than since just about any carioca can remember. Politicians are buddies: President Lula da Silva, elected in 2002, and then President Dilma Rousseff, after 2011; Governor Sérgio Cabral, reelected in 2010 and mayor Eduardo Paes, reelected in 2012, are working in concert to turn around the decadence that set in back in 1960 when the capital moved to Brasília.
But will it last, will the politicians persist and businesses invest?
Please tell me what you want to know about. Meanwhile, I’ve got tons of questions…